Inside Altus’ New Melbourne Offices

has recently completed the design of a new office space located in Melbourne, Australia for Altus.

The refurbishment of an existing office building to accommodate a progressive law firm ,providing dynamic office space supportive of collaborative working, whilst maintaining privacy.

The design strategy was to empty the entire space, removing all existing partition walls and open up a previously concealed internal light-well. creating a primary circulation path along the length of the space. The aim to maximise ‘surface area’ between public and private spaces. The saw-toothed floor plan gives each workspace an orientation towards an external outlook and a defined public interface.

Maintaining this angled geometry throughout the space creates a contrast with the linear building footprint and increases the overall perception of space. The use of semi-translucent fabric sliding screens defines the work spaces, maintaining connectivity and unifying the space. Angled lighting further enhances the geometry and acts to back light the screens giving a clue to the activity behind.

The use of colour was integral to the design process inspired by the bright orange and grey of the Altus branding. Charcoal grey throughout creates a calming and intimate space. The use of the Altus logo orange is applied strategically within the charcoal space, the saturated base colour making the orange accents seemingly iridescent, providing focal points to the meeting spaces and generating a sense of overall delight.

The design solution sought to use the existing condition constraints to the benefit of the project outcome. Exposing the existing structure and opening up the space to allows views through the length of space. The project brief being to create a unique environment unlike any other.

The primary aim to maintain privacy, whilst promoting a collaborative and inclusive working environment. The use of the translucent sliding screens provides the solution. Maintaining visual connectivity, whilst providing a comfortable sense of separation between workspaces. The level of separation adjustable by staff to suit the task at hand.

He saw tooth planning arrangement not only allows for connectivity to the external views, but also maximises the surface area, and blurs the line, between the private + public space. The space is configured using loose furniture items considered for their environmental impact. The lack of any built in partitioning allows for a flexibility of use over time with minimal churn.